JODY JACOBS

A Splashy Party for Swimmer

During the 1952 Olympic Games, Katalin Szoke won two gold medals in swimming for her Hungarian team. Thirty-three years later, now a California resident married to a very successful developer, Arpad Domyan (he was a member of the Hungarian water polo team that also won a gold medal in 1952), Kati was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., last month.

It's all heady stuff and worthy of the kind of party Arpad gave for Kati last weekend. It was at L'Orangerie, a black-tie dinner-dance that began at 8:30 p.m. and was still going on past midnight. Everywhere you looked in the restaurant there were white flowers. The giant arrangements in urns on the bar and in the main dining room were by L'Orangerie's own florist. The silver candelabra dripping white flowers and tiny ivy branches with gardenias were by David Jones who finished his job and returned later in his tuxedo to be one of the guests.

Rudy Varon and his band played in the patio. Quite a few of the ladies wore summer white in this rarefied atmosphere. And there was chilled vodka to accompany the tiny potatoes filled with caviar, magnums of Chateau Canon '66 for the baby lamb and magnums of Dom Perignon champagne with the strawberry tarts and ice cream.

Kati looked like a mermaid in her all-over beaded Bob Mackie gown, her soft movie star styled hair a new strawberry blonde shade. Very popular this night were the new, fanny wrapping dresses. Virginie Ferry, who tucked a few gardenias into her blonde chignon, wore a white silk dress by Luiz Archer, who a few years ago was a waiter at L'Orangerie. Mrs. Ralph Mishkin, who is pleased with the way their new home turned out, was in black. Lois and Art Linkletter were back from a "Love Boat" cruise on the Royal Princess and praising the ship to the skies. Anne and Jimmy Murphy were getting ready for their trip to Rome and their audience with the Pope. Sybil Brand, who was with Blake Garner, showed the Murphys the crucifix Ellen Byrens had brought back for her from the Vatican. Anna Maria Alberghetti had just finished her run of "The Sound of Music" in Long Beach. And Gerard Ferry said his dinner for the Joffrey Ballet next month will honor the memory of the Marquis de Cuevas and his dance company.

Zena Hoffman, with husband Rusty, wore white. Mrs. Morey Parkes (Dr. Parkes was there too) wore one of her own creations (her label reads Maruscha) with fox boa slung over one shoulder. Contessa Cohn wore one of Zandra Rhodes' tulle creations (and lacy ankle socks with her high-heeled slippers) and danced the night away with her escort, English actor Victor Rogers. Zsa Zsa Gabor (her date was Glen Bohanan) wore a black gown with a white pleated ruffle snaking its way down Zsa Zsa's curves. More dressing up the place were Nancy and Sid Petersen; Tony Thompson, the Rolls-Royce dealer; Donald and Arletta Tronstein; Ralph Mishkin; Irving and Simone Katzoff, Dr. and Mrs. Mitchell Karlan, Geri and Dick Brawerman, Sedge and Henry Plitt, Chantal and architect Martin Stern, polo-playing Glen and Gloria Holden; Dr. Arnold Klein, the dermatologist; Kurt and Betty (in a beaded flapper chemise) Niklas. Donald and Marylou Hicks arrived quite late and stirred up the talk that he's due to become deputy secretary of defense any day now.

The Social Scramble: Anne and Kirk Douglas were out on the patio of the Bistro Garden Wednesday afternoon celebrating their 31st wedding anniversary with son Peter. And in among the rest of the usual lunch bunch was Putnam editor Ellis Amburn in town to choose photos for Priscilla Presley's autobiography.

Dining on Indian curries and Tandoori chicken at the Bombay Palace were Harry Cahill, the U.S. consul general in Bombay, with Mrs. Gulshan Kohli, assistant director of the India Tourist Office in L.A., and producers Ron Shaw and Judy Green who are off to India to do a film on Indian culture for the upcoming Festival of India at the California Museum of Science and Industry (Oct. 15 -Jan.15, 1986); Norman and Eileen Kreiss who leave soon for Italy and France (business and pleasure) and Cyd Charisse, back from Canada where she co-starred in "The Pleasure of Her Company" to finish her beauty and exercise book (on Sunday she joins husband Tony Martin in New York where he's singing at Park 10.); Mira Advani and Sun Le Sun, the fashion designer.